Semi-Permanent
by J.W.Melmoth
Summary: When Kurt hears about the Sadie Hawkins dance at McKinley, he remembers the night Blaine told him about what happened before he transferred to Dalton. Pre!series background for Blaine; prequel to the phonecall in "The Art of Omission".


**Title: **Semi-Permanent**  
Timeframe: **Sadie Hawkins season 4 with flashbacks to season 2; Prom Queen and pre-series Blaine.  
S**ummary: **When Kurt hears about the Sadie Hawkins dance at McKinley, he remembers the night Blaine told him about what happened before he transferred to Dalton. Pre!series background for Blaine; prequel to the phonecall in "The Art of Omission".  
**Rating: **M for language and violence; homophobic content

**Author's note: **This flashback is more explicit than the things I published before. I feel a little insecure about it and would appreciate feedback of any kind.

* * *

**Semi-Permanent**

"And so we decided it's gonna be a _Sadie Hawkins_ dance. Isn't that great?" Tina said enthusiastically.

"Yeah, of course, oh my god, you get to ask the bo-o-ys," Kurt replied in a teasing, singsong voice. He smiled. He loved Tina's updates from Lima. "So do you know who you're gonna ask yet?"

There was a slight pause at the other side of the line. "Maybe. I don't know," Tina said quickly, and Kurt smirked. He wondered if it was Sam. Everyone liked Sam. He decided not to push it, though. She'd tell him when she was ready.

"Well, send me pictures of your dresses when you go shopping. I demand my veto rights," he replied, smoothing over Tina's hesitation with a gentleman's ease.

"Of course," Tina promised. "I gotta go, prom committee meeting. Talk to you later Kurt, Love ya."

"Bye Tina!"

Kurt hung up and shook his head in mirth. He mulled it over in his head. The girls asking the boys... that could be fun. He wondered who would ask the Glee boys. Then he paled. A Sadie Hawkins dance. Blaine.

He immediately remembered sitting at Breadstixx in second year with Blaine. After Kurt had finally worked up the nerve to ask him to the prom, Blaine hesistantly told him why he didn't like proms very much.

_"At my old school, there was a Sadie Hawkins dance, and... I had just come out..."_

There was more to that story than the simplified version Blaine had told him at the restaurant. Feeling the same leaden feeling in his stomach as he did back then, Kurt thought about the night he showed Blaine, Finn and his dad his prom outfit...

* * *

_"...and if you don't want to join me, I completely understand." _

Kurt walked back to his room with brisk, annoyed strides. He had hoped Blaine would be impressed by his outfit. Instead, he had sat there looking completely uncomfortable. It was hard to believe the only one who actually said anything nice was Finn! He slammed the door to his room closed and started unlacing his boots. Why did those stupid, homophobic jackasses always have to ruin everything? Not Blaine and Burt, of course- those nameless guys, the 'bad people out there' that he had to look out for. It was completely unfair! Now that Karofsky was no longer bullying him and he finally had a date to the prom- a _real _one, not some girl – he couldn't even go there looking his very best! And all just because some people he didn't even know might take offence to that.

Blaine hugged his own shoulders uncomfortably and looked at Finn and Kurt's dad.

"I think I should go up there," he suggested. Finn made a face and nodded.

"Yeah, you'd better," Burt agreed. "Just... keep the door open, okay? You know the rules."

Blaine blushed and nodded quickly. "Of course, Burt. Excuse me." He got up and straightened his shoulders. He had some explaining to do if he wanted Kurt to talk to him again.

"Kurt? Can I come in?" Blaine asked carefully, pushing the door open a little. Kurt was sitting on his bed, tearing at his boot laces. Blaine winced. His boyfriend was usually more careful with his calf-high Doc Martens. "I know you're angry with me," he started, but broke off as Kurt shook his head without taking his eyes off his boots.

"I'm not angry, Blaine. You're not ready, I understand."

"Do you? Kurt... if it's okay, I want to tell you what happened. It's...shaped me, in a way, and I just... I want you to hear about it before you ask someone else to the prom."

Kurt scoffed and finally looked up at Blaine. "Someone else? I don't _want_ someone else. I want _you._ But I want you to take me there as I am – not as other people want me to be!" He pouted a little.

"I know," Blaine said softly. "Just...hear me out. Please?"

Kurt swallowed and nodded. He knew he had a tendancy to get unreasonable when he was angry. Swallowing his pride, he patted the bed next to him and scooted over a little to make room. Maybe there was more to this story than what he assumed.

* * *

_**One year earlier**_

"So, I told mom and dad that because I'm in town, they should stay over at the Haleys tonight so they could have a few drinks. I promised I'd make sure you were home by curfew, Blainers. They said midnight so if you're back by three or four I'd call it fair. I think that gives you enough time to take your gal for ride, if you know what I mean, eh?" Cooper clapped Blaine on the shoulder. The younger boy blushed hotly and mumbled his thanks. His brother, unaware of Blaine's discomfort, pulled out a strip of brightly coloured foil packets and dangled them in front of the other boy's face.

"Brand of champions." He tucked the condoms in Blaine's breast pocket and patted it. "I never leave home without them." He gave his brother a dark and intense look, pointing his finger at him. "And you'd better be respectful to her," he threatened, and then dropped the dramaclass expression and grinned. "I remember my first prom. Julie Claire...man, she was fine. And up for anything, you know? Well, you don't know, do you, Blainers? But you will soon enough."

Cooper chuckled and stepped away to look in the long standing mirror. "Not bad..." he muttered, "not bad at all. Very hot, in fact." He flashed his teeth at himself and ran a hand through his hair. "You look good too, Blaine," he added on afterthought, giving his brother a playful pat on the back before walking out.

Blaine looked at himself in the mirror. Did he really look okay? He knew he didn't have his brother's moviestar looks, but he had done the best he could with his hair and his rented tuxedo had been expensive enough. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He was nervous, eventhough it was just a dance. Still, he had the feeling it was going to change everything.

* * *

"I had a really good time," Blaine said again for lack of anything else to say. They were standing outside waiting for Stephen's dad pick them up. The parking lot was dark and empty. Most commuting students had already left on the last bus and those who had cars of their own were stil inside, partying.

"Me too," Stephen agreed. The boy looked down on their entwined hands. "I was afraid something would happen if I came out like this," he confessed. Blaine, who had told his friend how he felt a few weeks ago, nodded with understanding.

"I thought it'd be worse, too, when I came out. I mean, especially at school. But it's been really quiet. I guess people just don't care. Which is a _good _thing," he hurried to add. "It's really no one's business but ours." He squeezed Stephen's hand softly. The boy was looking at him and smiled.

"I couldn't have done it without you," Stephen said, and then hesitated. "I think...I think I'm ready to tell my parents now, too. When my dad comes to pick us up...I'll tell him."

Blaine beamed at him. His own parents had been very understanding, but he knew not all parents were like that. His dad still tried to convert him every now and then, but that was just because he was still getting used to the idea. His mom, he suspected, had probably always known. Cooper didn't - he knew that talk was due, but they saw each other so little and when he was in town Cooper usually did all the talking, telling everyone who would listen about his drama school exploits. Blaine hoped Stephen's parents would be okay with their son being gay.

Stephen was looking back at him like he was expecting Blaine to say something. Or _do_ something. Blaine felt his heart flutter. It felt like a dream. A few weeks ago, he had been all alone with his feelings. He had never expected his friend would actually feel the same way. Fate had drawn them together; he realised that now. He decided to do it. He leaned forward and very carefully kissed Stephen's lips. The other boy froze for a moment, breathing in sharply, before tentatively returning the kiss. They barely touched, but Blaine felt as if Stephen's warm lips were all over his body, heating his skin. He sighed and closed his eyes, wanting this feeling to last forever- only to be roughly pushed away.

His eyes snapped open, first focusing on Stephen, failing to understand what had just happened. Then he realised they weren't alone anymore.

Three boys from the school's wrestling team were standing around them with sneers on their faces. The largest and self-proclaimed captain of their team, Ted Kamps, was looking at him as if he had smelled something bad. The other two had their arms around Stephen's shoulders. From afar, it might look like a friendly gesture, but Blaine could see they were actually restraining him. Stephen was looking as confused as Blaine felt.

"What do you want?" Blaine asked Ted. The large boy rolled his eyes as if the answer was obvious.

"We want you to keep your unnatural freakshow out of our school and off our parking lot," Ted replied. "It was bad enough when it was just _you_. But now it's _spreading_." He nodded at Stephen, then turned back to Blaine. "No one wants to see shit like that. Two guys dancing...it made all the girls sick."

"Maybe they were just sick of _you_," Stephen countered. Blaine felt a flash of pride for his friend (boyfriend?), but the feeling of victory he got from the remark didn't last long. He read Ted's intentions from his eyes miliseconds before it happened- just long enough to see it but too short to warn Stephen. Ted spun on his heels and planted his fist in Stephen's face. Blaine could feel the dull thud deep in his stomach as he watched Stephen's head snap back and his knees buckle. The other boys were holding him up now. A thin trickle of blood started running from Stephen's nose. Ted flexed his hand, shaking circulation back into it before balling it again. Blaine realised he wasn't done.

"Don't," he pleaded, "he did nothing to you."

With a grin on his face, Ted turned back at him. "So it was all _you_, then?" He looked almost pleased to have a reason to beat both of them.

Blaine swallowed. "Yes," he said slowly, looking at Stephen. Blood was dripping from his chin onto the ground. "Stephen's not gay. I made him come with me."

Ted narrowed his eyes and looked from Blaine back at Stephen. "Then why was he kissing you?"

Blaine hesitated. He was terrified, but he didn't want them to hurt Stephen again. He tried to get into Ted's mind, to find something he'd believe- something he'd be afraid of. "I told him I'd kiss his brother if he wouldn't."

Stephen's eyes snapped up and he stared at Blaine widely. "Blaine-" he started, but Blaine shook his head.

"That is disgusting, Anderson," Ted spat. "His brother is just a kid. He's in my little sister's class."

Blaine didn't say anything. He clenched his jaw shut and waited for the punch that was sure to follow. But Ted didn't hit him - yet. He just stood there staring at him like he was unable to grasp the pure vileness of what Blaine had suggested. "Let Franklin go," he said finally, nodding at Stephen. The other boys looked at their captive for a moment, but then pulled away their hands. Just as they did, headlights turned the corner and a car started driving up.

_Stephen's dad_, Blaine thought with relief, _they have to leave us alone now_. But instead of getting out of there like he had expected the boys to do, they simply closed ranks around him, clasping him in another of those friendly-looking embraces. Stephen wiped at his nose. Blaine could tell he was eager to leave, yet he stood there hesitating. Mr Franklin honked hiscar horn. Stephen shifted from one foot to the other. He offered Blaine a look he would never forget. It was both apologetic and reproachful. Blaine knew he could expect no help from him. Stephen turned and started walking away, pushing his hands deep into the pockets of his tuxedo and hiding his bloody nose into his collar the best he could.

"We should get out of here," one of the boys suggested. "What if he calls the police?"

Ted scoffed. "He isn't going to call the police. He isn't even going to tell his dad." He turned to the others. "Would _you_?"

Blaine knew Ted was right. Stephen wasn't going to tell his dad what happened. And after this, he wasn't about to come out to them, either.

'So," Ted announced, as if he had just been making a long and detailed point, "Anderson. How can we stop you from turning the rest of us into faggots?"

"I wouldn't-" Blaine started, but Ted's fist effectively shut him up as it crashed into his jaw. Pain exploded against Blaine's chin and his teeth slammed together hard. He tasted blood in his mouth.

"That was a retorical question," Ted informed him. The other boys let go of him, and he nearly fell. For a moment, Blaine thought that had been it, but soon learned they had only let go so they could join in on the action. They pushed him back and forth between them, easily warding off his attempts to defend himself, and Ted punched him again, on his back between his shoulderblades. It knocked the wind out of him and Blaine fell to his knees. As they started kicking him, Blaine didn't know where to shield himself first. Instinctively he went for his face, but that left his midrif and groin exposed. He tried to curl up the best he could to avoid their boots, but they still landed everywhere. He no longer recognised the sounds around him. Everything blurred into white noise and dull crashes as the blows fell. It felt like it was never going to stop. Until it did. Blaine didn't dare let up and remained how he was, his eyes tightly closed. He felt sick and vaguely realised he was shaking.

"I said, get up," Ted repeated, nudging him with his foot. As Blaine tried his best to ignore him, the other two boys grabbed his arms and pulled him up. He hung between them, feeling dizzy. Ted was brandishing a Sharpie in his face. Blaine blinked at it confusedly, wondering why the boy carried a marker pen around, until he realised those ugly tags on the lockers and across the prom queen posters had to have come from somewhere. But what did he want with it now?

"Since you just lost your _boyfriend_, why don't we help you find a new one? With a little...advertising in the right places?" Ted suggested, laughing maliciously and eying him up and down. He nodded at the parked car behind them, and his friends seemed to know what he was after. With an efficient move that showed they had done this before, they pushed Blaine up against the hood face down. One of them started tearing at his trousers. Blaine struggled against them, kicking out, but they had him in a wrestling hold and managed to pull his pants and his underwear down to his knees. The cold metal of the hood bit into his thighs. He tried to look over his shoulder, not daring to turn and expose his private parts. Ted had uncapped the Sharpie and seemed to be studying his canvas.

Before, as Blaine was on the ground, he had kept hoping someone would come and see them, but right now, he didn't want anyone to come outside and witness this. It was too humiliating. Ted stepped closer and Blaine started struggling against the hands that held him again, trying to put himself out of the boy's reach.

"Hold still or I'm gonna stick it up your ass," Ted threatened. One of the other boys snickered.

"He'd probably like that, Teddy," the boy suggested lewdly. Ted grinned. Then he placed a cold hand on Blaine's lower back to push him down, and started writing.

Blaine grit his teeth. He could feel the marker swipe over his skin. It felt like the obscene version of a guessing game he used to play with Cooper as a kid, where they'd write words on each other's backs with their knuckles. The memory made it worse and he stopped trying to understand the letters. He didn't really need to know what Ted was writing in order to know what it would say. The others started laughing and he could hear the clicking shutter sound of an iPhone camera. He closed his eyes tighter to stop his tear ducts from embarrassing him further. The pressure on his back let up and he realised Ted had stopped drawing on him. The hands holding him down let go. He shifted, and when no new blows were forthcoming, he steadied his feet on the ground and pulled up his pants.

"Yeah, put that away, we don't wanna see it," one of the boys mocked.

"We'll be sure to upload your ad to facebook," the other teased, waving his phone at Blaine. "So the other fags can find you."

"Yeah. Then you won't have to blackmail _normal_ guys," Ted added.

Blaine wished he knew what to say. He had never felt so angry and helpless at the same time. There would be no point in begging them not to upload the pictures. It would probably only amuse them. His whole body hurt, and now that he knew what was in store for him as soon as the school saw the pictures, he hurt even more inside. He wanted to go home and hide in his bed and pretend this had all been a nightmare.

Absolution came from a group of students coming from the dance. As they crossed the parking lot to get to their cars, Ted and his friends decided that they'd rather not have too many witnesses, and Ted put the Sharpie away.

"See you on Monday, Anderson," Ted said, bumping his shoulder hard against the smaller boy as he walked past. Blaine only winced and said nothing. Ted's companions quickly followed. Blaine waited by the car until he was sure they had really left. The other students had also left by now. He might have been able to catch a ride with one of them, but that would mean explaining what happened- if his smudged tuxedo and his bloody face didn't already tell the tale. He wasn't ready for that. There was only one option: walk home.

* * *

"Blaine! I'm coming in! You'd better not have some girl stashed away in there!" Cooper shouted through his brother's bedroom door, waited a few seconds, and then came in. He wrinkled his nose. "Ugh, it smells like teenager in here," he commented, walking briskly to the other side of the room and pulling open the blinds so he could open up a window. He took a deep breath of fresh air and turned around. "I didn't hear you come home last night, but I went to bed at two and you weren't here by then, so I take it you got lucky? Blaine? Take after your old brother eh? Tell me about-" Cooper broke off as Blaine turned around to face him. The younger boy blinked at him through the swellings and bruises on his face. He clutched his blanket high over his chest. As much as he had tried last night, the marker on his thighs and back hadn't come off completely.

"What happened?" Cooper asked, stepping closer to the bed to look at his brother. His superior attitude and joviality were completely gone and all that was left was honest concern.

"I'm okay," Blaine croaked, but winced as the movement of his lips hurt his face.

"You don't look okay," Cooper said. "I hope the other party's in the hospital, at least? What did you do, fight over some girl?" He offered Blaine a careful smile. It faded as he saw Blaine's crestfallen expression. Blaine shook his head. It was probably time to tell his brother the truth. He just wished it didn't feel like he was about to disappoint him.

"Three guys from school saw me kissing a boy," he said quietly, looking down at his hands. "they decided... that was not okay."

Cooper frowned. "Why would you- Oh. _Oh_." His expression changed, but instead of the disapproval Blaine had sort of expected, Cooper just looked sorry. "Blaine..." he started, but his brother shook his head. He didn't want Cooper's pity for being gay. His brother seemed to understand.

"Do mom and dad know?" Cooper said instead. Blaine nodded.

"I came out a few weeks ago. Mom and dad were okay. I thought people at school were okay with it too, but I guess they were just...waiting for the right moment to show me what they felt."

Cooper shook his head and carefully put his hand on Blaine's shoulder. "I'm really sorry, Blaine. About what they did, I mean. Not because of your- that you.." He broke off and shrugged helplessly.

Blaine smiled a little. "Not so articulate when you don't have someone write your lines, eh Coop?" he teased. Cooper smirked.

"I'm soaking this all up here for future reference," he replied, tapping his temple. "This is Oscar material." Then he shook his head and schooled his face into a serious expression again. "How do you feel? Do you want me to drive you to the hospital? Did they...break anything?"

Blaine chuckled humorlessly. "Apart from my faith in humanity?" He shifted in his bed. "I don't think so," he added quietly. Then he thought about the marker and couldn't help a tear rolling down his cheek. Another soon followed. "I couldn't stop them, Coop. I tried, but-"

"Several against one is fucking unfair," Cooper replied through gritted teeth, balling his fists. Blaine shuddered.

"They took pictures of me," he said almost inaudibly. "And said they were going to post them online."

"What?!" Cooper shouted, getting up from the side of the bed. "That does it. We're going to the police!"

Blaine winced. "No, please. It's too late now anyway. And that will just make it worse."

Cooper studied him for a moment. "Then I'll go and talk to them," he said resolutely. "Tell me their names." Blaine shook his head. Cooper groaned. "We have to do _something_, Blaine. You can't just let them get away with this!"

A noise came from downstairs. "We're home!" a woman's voice called. Cooper looked at his brother. It was hard to read his expression underneath the bruises. He felt himself getting angry all over again that someone would do that to his little brother, but he pushed it down because he had seen his action-mode was stressing Blaine even more.

"Do you want me to talk to mom and dad first?" he offered. Blaine breathed in deeply and considered it. He knew he couldn't hide his condition from his parents anyway. What would be the point in stalling? He looked at his brother. Right now, he wasn't the smarmy Hollywood star with the bleached teeth and the annoying stories- he was his big brother, ready to stand up for him.

"Come with me?" he asked quietly.

* * *

Blaine brushed his hand over Kurt's bed spread, smoothing out the wrinkles. "My parents arranged for me to change schools so I didn't have to go back there. And Cooper actually managed to get those guys _banned_ from facebook. I still don't know how he did that." He took a deep breath and sighed. "I guess those pictures are still out there somewhere. I never saw them, but... I didn't really dare look too hard, you know? I'd better not ever try to run for president." He looked up and smiled at Kurt- and found his boyfriend looking back at him with tears in his eyes.

"Blaine, I'm so sorry," Kurt whispered. He had already told him so at Breadstixx, but it was the only thing he could think of to say. He knew the kind of desparation Blaine would have felt that night, _first hand_ – and he realized now that his little tantrum had been very unjust.

Blaine shrugged. "It's okay. Dalton was good for me. It took a while before I learned to trust the guys, but...it got me into the Warblers. And then I met you." He declared it with such simplicity that Kurt shook his head in disbelief.

"You almost make it sound like it was worth it," he said softly.

"I think it was," Blaine replied.

Kurt blushed and bit his lower lip. Then he frowned. "What about...Stephen?" he asked carefully. In his head, the other boy kind of looked like a younger version of Jeremiah.

"I don't know," Blaine said. "He defriended me on facebook and I didn't try to get in touch with him again. I guess he needed to do that, you know, because of the others and the stuff I had said."

"But you were protecting him!"

"Everyone should be allowed to pick the time of their own coming out, Kurt. If he decided against it back then... that was his right."

Kurt sighed. "How are you so forgiving?" he asked, giving Blaine an awed look. His boyfriend quickly shook his head.

"It took a lot of time, believe me," he brushed it off. "Now..." He reached for Kurt's hand and took it into his. "Kurt, if you will still go to prom with me, knowing what you know now, I promise I will look out for you and try to make it the best prom ever for the both of us." He smiled shyly. "And maybe...you want to pick out a tie or something for me that matches your kilt?"

Kurt beamed a smile at him. "I know something better. Matching corsages. They'd have to be carnations, of course."

"Of course," Blaine agreed, smiling his special smile that he reserved for Kurt only. Kurt was right. If there was ever a time to let go of the past, this was it.

* * *

Kurt lowered his phone and chewed his lip. Would he be overstepping the boundaries of their reestablished friendship if he called Blaine and asked him if he was okay? No. He had to ask. It wasn't just any prom- it was an actual Sadie Hawkins dance, and Blaine would be alone there, without a date (or would he? Something nagged inside of him). Kurt cared too much not to call and offer his support.

He hit speed dial and waited for the line between New York and Lima to be connected.

**The End; (or skip to: "The Art of Omission")**


End file.
